Sample of Anatomy Teacher's Manual

Anatomy

(Teacher’s Manual)

200 hr. Yoga Teacher Training Curriculum

ASHTANGASANA

Adriana Elmes MA, 500 E-RYT, RYS

Chapter 1: Nervous System Basics

When we practice or teach yoga, we experience the effects on our muscular and skeletal systems in obvious ways. We experience tension, contraction, stretching, softening of our muscular system. The skeletal system supports our body in all of these poses. Our respiratory system we can experience in deeper ways when we are practicing various pranayama exercises. Our nervous system is impacted by all these activities either exciting it or calming it. We will start with a general overview of the brain, the regions of the nervous system called central and peripheral nervous systems, and the functional differences between the somatic and autonomic systems. We will explore how stress impacts this system and how yoga, pranayama, and meditation can support this system.

Three Parts of the Brain – The Triune Brain

Paul MacLean, a physician and neuroscientist, explored the evolutionary development of the human brain. He created a model that shows how the human brain evolved from a reptilian brain to our highest-level mammalian brain. Within the structure of our brain, he states, we have a primitive component, called the hindbrain, which is responsible for the basic physical and unconscious functions. This is the reptilian part of our brain. The midbrain, the early mammalian brain, is responsible for memory, emotion, bonding reactions, and fight or flight. One can consider it the emotional part of your brain. The highest level of our brain is the forebrain, or the rational brain. This comprises the neocortex, which is the largest part of the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the cerebrum. This area is for conscious activities such as reading,

Human Brain - Rational

Mammalian - Emotional

Reptilian - Survival

writing, language, thought, cognition, and motor commands (Institute, 2019). Neuroscience has found that the often brain activates all three systems at once so this model is a simplification of how the brain functions.

When we are under stress, humans shift from using the cerebral cortex or forebrain to the midbrain and hindbrain. These evolutionary brain regions overlay the anatomical parts of the brain. The neocortex, cerebral cortex, and cerebrum are all in the forebrain.

General Structures of the Brain

Brain stem – basic needs. The gateway from the spinal cord to the rest of the brain

Cerebral cortex – the outer layer of the cerebrum. Neural integration in the central nervous system. Memory, attention, perception, awareness, thought, language, consciousness

Prefrontal Cortex – conscious thinking and emotional regulation

Neocortex – the largest part of the cerebral cortex. Sleep, memory, and learning processes

Cerebrum – integrates information the brain receives. The entire upper part of brain

Cerebellum – motor control, motion, memory. Underneath the cerebrum Thalamus – regulates the brain

Amygdala – prepares you to fight back before you can assess

An example of how yoga impacts the brain, is that yoga increases the activity in the prefrontal cortex. When you increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, your stress lowers (Swanson, 2020)

Another example of how the brain is impacted by yoga is that yoga decreases activity in the amygdala. The amygdala works with the prefrontal cortex to process and respond to fear (Swanson, 2020) (eco). If there is decreased activity in the amygdala, our sense of fear or hypervigilance can decrease. If yoga impacts parts of our brain, we are essentially training our brain to process and respond to fear and stress more effectively.

Branches of the Nervous System

The nervous system is divided into two main parts: the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS).

• PNS are the nerves that run down the limbs and out into tissues

» Somatic

» Autonomic

• CNS is the brain and the spinal cord

» Spinal cord protected by vertebrae

» Brain stem – primal part of the brain

» Hemispheres, left and right

Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring chemicals that send signals or messages between nerves. Each nerve has its own balance of neurotransmitters. There are two kinds, calming and stimulating, which keep us awake or prepare us for rest. We need stimulating neurotransmitters to think and react fast. We also need calming neurotransmitters to help recover from periods of stress, to calm down, and to sleep. All of these affect mood, energy, focus, sleep, and memory.

A Few Types of Neurotransmitters

• Serotonin – calming and made in the gut

• GABA – calming, counter exposure to chronic stress. Can become depleted

• Glutamate – stimulating, help you think, learn, and remember

• Dopamine – stimulating, ability to experience pleasure, mood, movement, mental process. Converts to adrenaline

• Adrenaline – (norepinephrine + epinephrine) gives bursts of energy, strength, and power. Increase heart rate, sweat, mood, and focus. Long term stress causes adrenaline depletion

When your students leave the studio feeling happy, relaxed, and blissful, you know that they were able to create those emotions through their yoga practice. Throughout their yoga, including asana, pranayama, and some level of meditation, they have released neurotransmitters eliciting these wonderful feelings.

Let’s Talk About Stress

Stress is defined as the ability of the body to adapt to changes in our environment. Note, stress is how we adapt to change. Stress is not inherently bad. Stress is unavoidable, it is how we handle and process it that matters. Stress can be good as it helps us prepare for a challenge. Stress can also be a positive thing, like preparing for a vacation or wedding. The body is preparing for a change.

• Increase neuroplasticity – brain change

• Increase synaptic connections – memory and recall

• Increase frontal lobe function – reasoning and decision-making

• Increase brain volume – memory

• Increase positive brain frequencies – theta and alpha

Yoga gets you into your body and has you focus on your breath. With controlled breathing, your heart rate may drop. Postures can help you release tension. Various styles of yoga, such as restorative, hatha, Iyengar, and yoga nidra, all can help release tension.

Before all this research, Iyengar taught a yoga approach intended to help release pain and heal the injury. He used props and modified poses. He believed supporting the body with props facilitates the body toward healing. The various poses can elicit physiological responses that can aid the healing process (Lasater, 1995). Today, we would probably term that the relaxation response. The relaxation response can be elicited through yoga.

Herbert Benson is a Harvard researcher who explored the mind/body connection. “The response is defined as your personal ability to encourage your body to release chemicals and brain signals that make your muscles and organs slow down and increase blood flow to the brain.” (Mitchell, 2013).

Yoga increases the body’s awareness and emotional intelligence so we can control our stress responses. Stress is not inherently bad, it’s our body reacting to change. Through posture, breath, and control of our monkey mind, we can help control how we perceive and respond to change.

Nervous System and Pranayama

We know that shifting our nervous system from fight/flight/freeze mode to our rest and digest mode will improve our well-being. We have all

experienced the effects of our asana classes. After class, we have this post-yoga glow. This comes not only from the asanas but also from the enhanced breathing during class.

The first thing we do when we experience stress or stressors: we shift our breathing. Whether imagined or real, whether physical, emotional, or psychological stress, our nervous system responds the same way. The nervous system will shift to stress mode. If the stress becomes chronic, our nervous system forgets what is normal. If we stay in this constant state of stress, our bodies lose the ability to go back to baseline. Stress can interfere with our breathing patterns. There are various ways our breath can shift, such as chest, collapsed, hyperventilation, breath grabbing, and frozen chest breathing. (MacLean, 1990)

There is no real normal to breathing. Our rate or volume switch is based on need. We can develop patterns of irregular breathing, impacting rate, and volume. But we can use the breath to facilitate a de-stressing effect. Being aware of how we can control our breath will help to elicit a down regulation of the nervous system (Farhi, 1996). Mindful breathing can help you calm down. Each exhalation relaxes the heart muscle, resulting in increased parasympathetic activity (Institute, 2019).

When we breathe, the diaphragm directly stimulates the vagus nerve. This impacts the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. The vagus nerve, the tenth cranial nerve, is a primary nerve of the PNS. The vagus nerve is myelinated above the diaphragm and regulates the heart and lungs. Below the diaphragm, the vagus nerve is unmyelinated and regulates the gut and abdominal organs.

The “vagal break stops the sympathetic nervous system dominance and regulates the heart rate via vagal activation. This action promotes relaxation, self-soothing, growth , and repair. [This] activates the parasympathetic nervous system” (p.240) (Institute, 2019). The sympathetic (fight/flight/freeze) dominance can be released through vagal nerve toning/ activation such as belly breathing, extended exhales, and kapalabhati.

Nervous System and Meditation

When you go into Google Scholar and look up articles on meditation effects, there are 503,000 articles listed. To narrow all this down, we will summarize by stating that meditation calms the mind, slows racing thoughts, increases neuroplasticity, and decreases heart rate and blood pressure. Research has shown when people meditate for fifteen to twentyfive minutes, both brain hemispheres begin working together. People gain whole-brain functioning. Humans tend to be left- or right-side dominant, each side having different jobs. The left side is more logical, analytical, and detail-oriented. The right side is more intuitive, creative, and artistic. Meditation appears to strengthen both sides. Both sides are activated, displaying better focus and alertness, stronger memory, and better intellectual functioning. People report being happier, more peaceful, and balanced emotionally (eco).

Conclusions

When we teach yoga, pranayama, and meditation, we should be aware of how powerful these tools are to our nervous system. We should have a general understanding of how our nervous system works and then how outside factors can influence its functioning and health. Utilizing our tools skillfully can facilitate health and well-being in all of our students.

Chapter 2: Anatomy

Understanding anatomy is a fundamental component when learning yoga postures. For us to safely practice and to safely teach asana, we need an understanding of how the muscles and bones connect, engage, stretch, and contract. We need to create space in the body to create movement.

We can do that by understanding how, for example, when the arm externally rotates, we can free the scapulae, to allow for a more effective extension when raising the arms. Or when we cue “slide your shoulder blades down the back”, that we need to tell them how to do that. Asking your students to lower your shoulders from their ears, gently squeeze the space between their shoulder blades, lift through their breastbone. If we have a vocabulary that includes the basic bones and muscles, we can more effectively give cues and adjustments.

If you see someone in Up Dog, sagging in their lower back, we know what that is doing to their spine and also can have a sense of what might be

restricting them.

Knowing how the body can be restricted and tight, via understanding musculature, helps you to sequence your classes in safer ways. If you want to do camel pose towards the middle or end of your class, what do you need to be sure to open, or stretch to prepare them for this pose? If you want to do forearm balance, should we be working on opening the chest and shoulders and hamstrings?

Our in-class workshop sessions will walk you through alignment and engagement of muscles needed to do the poses safely. What we have included here is a self-study through a fantastic website called Muscle & Motion. This website lets you explore poses through video and interactive video. You will be able to click through exercise analysis, common mistakes and active muscles. This will give you a depth of understanding that will nicely integrate with the live asana work in the classroom.

Asana Theory, Muscular Anatomy & Kinesiology

You will see on the left side a search bar and menu. You will be using a few different sections within the index. The colors in the workbook below correspond to the area in the index. We will bounce back and forth, in the index between Asana, Muscular and Kinesiology & Skeletal. The colors indicate a different section or category.

This section is focusing on more general concepts, kinesiology, posture, breathing and sections of the body. Please explore each topic and then answer the questions.

1. Go to the Muscle and Motion website.

2. Log-in Pages

3. Yoga App Log-in

4. Choose your device

5. Create Account

6. Log-in

Menu:

Go to the Asana section -- Core Asana -- Theory Section

Go to Muscular Anatomy section

Go to Kinesiology & Skeletal

Study each topic, click through the various aspects, explore by hovering over the images and clicking the various tabs.

1. Asana – Core Asana – Theory-Ideal Postural Alignment –Median Axis

1. What is the median axis

It is like a string that is stretched when someone straightens up

2. What is string weakness?

The compression of the body when standing

3. How can you improve posture?

Use imagery

2. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal Postural Alignment –Head Triangle

1. What does the head triangle consist of?

Center point on top of the head, the two sides descending to the top of the scapula on the shoulders.

2. What causes shortening and weakening of the anterior neck?

Forward head posture

3. What is the number 5 muscle?

3. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal Postural Alignment –Chest Triangle

1. What is the chest triangle?

Center of the chest bone, the two sides of the ASIS on the front of the pelvic bowl.

2. How do you prevent the body from sinking the chest triangle?

Lengthen the sides of the triangle and push the head upward and move ears away from shoulders.

3. A ballet teacher told me that if I imagine a cord lifting my sternum, your shoulders can naturally shift back and down to avoid this collapsing. Why don’t you give it a try!

4. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal Postural Alignment –

Navel Triangle

1. What comprises the navel triangle?

Center of the navel, two sides descend to the center of the feet.

2. What can a weak Navel Triangle cause? Sway-Back posture

5. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal Postural Alignment –Important Emphasis

1. What does the little guy pull from above? Feet

2. Name 3 yoga poses do they demonstrate to help practice proper triangle alignment?

Tadasana, Twisting hand to foot, awkward chair, plank, lunge, tabletop, boat

6. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ventilation, Kinesiology of Ventilation

1. What are the joints that are active when we breathe?

Costovertebral joints, sternocostal joints, thoracic spine vertebrae

2. Name 3 active muscles involved in breathing

Scalene muscles, sternocleidomastoid, pectoralis major, Intercostal muscles, diaphragm, latissimus dorsi, serratus posterior superior, erector spinae, levatores costarum, quadratus lumborum

7. Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Timing of Respiration when Performing Rotation

1. What compresses when rotating?

Obliques and transversus abdominus

2. Does exhaling or inhaling enhance rotation?

Exhaling

3. When you rotate on an exhale does it feel like? (circle one)

a. you are being wrung out like a wet towel

b. like a balloon deflating

c. someone giving you a raspberry burn

Chapter 3: Asana/Pose Worksheet

Login to Muscle and Motion website. You have to select Yoga in the upper left banner. The left index, find the “Asanas” section. You can either search via the pose name. There will be a list of Core Asana, Backbends, Forward Bends, Rotation, Standing & Balance, Sitting and Reclining Postures. You can find the poses in the lists or you can search for a specific pose. If you do that, try both the Sanskrit and the English translation. Please explore each pose and then fill out the questions below.

1. Tadasana – Mountain

1. Mountain pose position usually serves as a starting position for all standing positions, but it should be practiced __________ .

Separately

2. Mountain pose is a __________ position.

Very intelligent

3. How many triangles are factors in this pose? Three

2. Ardha Uttanasana – ½ Forward Fold or Half Standing Forward Bend

1. How is their arm position different from what we typically teach?

Their arms are stretched forward

2. How do we fix the common problem of tight hamstrings?

Rest hands on your blocks or bend your knees

3. What muscle prevents the body from falling over?

Gluteus maximus

1. How do they illustrate the common mistake of a sagging lower back?

Grey brick on the lower back

2. What can be used to help a student feel their body in the proper position?

A wooden rod/pole – Sacrum, center thoracic vertebrae and back of head

3. What is problem #2?

Sore wrists during plank or the pushup

4. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog

1. What does Downward Facing Dog do for your body?

Lengthens the back legs and back, and strengthens the shoulder girdle

2. What is the Superficial Back Line?

Interconnected lines referred to in Thomas Myers book, Anatomy Trains

3. What is problem #3? Review the solutions.

Functional shortening of the chest muscles causing rounding of the upper back and creates and angle between the arms and trunk.

3. Kumbhukasana – Plank

5. Uttanasana – Standing Forward Fold

1. What are the two areas that get focused movement in this posture, and can lead to future issues?

Strong flexion in the lower back and too little movement in the hip joints

2. What muscles help to flex the spine?

The abdominal muscles and the biceps brachii help flex the spine and hip joints.

3. Review Exercise Analysis #2. Great explanation as to why you tell your students to bend their knees.

1. Watch the various exercises that can be done to open up thoracic mobility.

2. What should you do if you cannot bring heels to the floor?

Decrease flexion in the knees and/or stand with small elevation under the heels.

3. What color are the trapezius muscles? Yellow

7. Utthita Trikonasana – Extended Triangle

1. What is the muscle that turns the head in this posture?

Sternocleidomastoid

2. What are the cartoon green guys demonstrating?

The stretching/lengthening of the external obliques, gluteus medius, hip adductors and hamstrings

6. Utkatasana – Awkward Chair

Symbols

½ Forward Fold 32 A

Adho Mukha Vrkrasana 45

Adrenaline 14

Anahatasana 43

Ananda Balasana 43

ANS 11

Ardha Chandrasana 2 37

Ardha Matsyendrasana 43

Ardha Uttanasana 32

Asana – Core Asanas – Theory - Core Muscles – Activation of Core

Muscles 30

Asana – Core Asanas – Theory - Core Muscles – Function of Core Muscles

29

Asana – Core Asanas – Theory - Core Muscles – Function of Internal Unit

30

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Effects of Vertebral Rotation on Respiration

Functions 27

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal

Postural Alignment – Chest Triangle

25

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal

Postural Alignment – Head Triangle

24

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal

Postural Alignment – Important

Emphasis 25

Asana – Core Asana – Theory-Ideal

Postural Alignment – Median Axis

24

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Ideal

Postural Alignment – Navel Triangle

25

Asana – Core Asana – Theory - Timing of Respiration when Performing Rotation 26

Asana – Core Asana – TheoryVentilation, Kinesiology of Ventilation 26

Asana Theory & Kinesiology 23

autonomic 8, 12, 15

Awkward Chair 34

axon 13 B

Baddhakonasana 41

Balasana 45

Bhagerasana 46

Bharadvajasana 44

Bhujangasana 38, 46

Bound Angle Pose 41

Bow 40

Bridge 38 C

Camel 39

Cat 46

central nervous system 9, 10, 12

Child’s 45

CNS 10, 12, 13

Cobra 38, 46

D

Dandasana 40

Danurasana 40

dendrites 13

Dopamine 14

Downward Facing Dog 33

E

Eagle 36

Easy Pose 42

Extended Puppy 43

Extended Triangle 34

F

Feet Spread Intense Stretch 35

Fish 39

G

GABA 14

Garland 47

Garudasana 36

glial cells 12, 13

Glutamate 14

H

Halasana 37

Half Boat 41

Half Lord of the Fishes 43

Half Moon Balance 37

Handstand 45

Happy Baby 43

Headstand 46

Head to Knee 38

Herbert Benson 16

Hero 42 I

Iyengar 16 J

Janu Sirsasana 38

K

Kinesiology & Skeletal- Head and Neck 27

Kinesiology & Skeletal – Legs 28

Kinesiology & Skeletal– Torso 27

Kumbhukasana 33

Lotus 42 M

Malasana 47

Marichyasana 44

Marjaryasana 46

Matsyasana 39

meditate 18

Mountain 32

Muscular Anatomy – Head and Neck 28

Muscular Anatomy – Lower Legs and Feet 29

Muscular Anatomy – Torso 27

Muscular Anatomy– Upper Legs 29

N

nerves 10, 11, 12, 14

Nervous System and Meditation 18

Nervous System and Pranayama 16

neurons 11, 12, 13

neuroplasticity 16, 18

neurotransmitters 11, 13, 14

nidra 16

Padmasana 42

parasympathetic 11, 15, 17

Paripurna Navasana 41

Parivrtta Parsvakonasana 35

Parivrtta Trikonasana 35

Paschimottanasana 38

peripheral nervous 8, 10, 11, 12

Plank 33

Plow 37

PNS 12, 13, 17

Prasarita Paddotanasana 35

R relaxation response 16

rest and digest 11, 15, 16

Revolved Side Angle 35

Revolved Triangle 35

S

Sage Twist 44

Salamba Sarvangasana 45

Seated Forward Bend 38

Serotonin 14

Setu Bhandasana 38

Shoulder Stand 45

Sirsasana 46

SNS 11

somatic 8, 10, 12

Sphynx 46

Staff Pose 40

Standing Forward Fold 34

Structures of the Brain 9

Sukhasana 42

sympathetic 11, 15, 18

T

Tadasana 32

Triune Brain 8

Twist 44 U

Upward Bow 40

Upward Extended Feet 47

Urdhva Danurasana 40

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana 33

Ustrasana 39

Utkatasana 34

Uttanasana 34

Uttana Shishosana 43

Utthita Trikonasana 34

V

vagus nerve 17

Viparita Karani 47

Virabhadrasana 3 36

Virasana 42

Vrksasana 37

W

Warrior 3 36